Hot For Teacher
by rkerlynch
Summary: AU: Nicholas Duval is your less-than-average high school senior. To him, the goal is to graduate and get the hell out. But when he's stuck in class the new biology teacher, Mr. Sterling his plans will change, whether he likes it or not. (Rating changed to T for future chapters.)
1. Chapter 1

"Tell me he's hot one more time, and I swear I will pull out all of your hair," Nick Duval groaned, gripping the strap of his bag harder as they walked to the last period of the day.

"But he is!" his friend insisted.

Nick raised his hand to slap her in the back of the head, then thought better of it. Really, he decided, what was the point? Rachel didn't care that he didn't find teachers attractive, and that maybe it wouldn't matter even if she kept saying it—the result of denying it the first few times she said it. All Rachel cared about was figuring out the next song to sing in Glee club, rambling on about how perfect Finn was, and complaining that he didn't see her the was she saw him.

Residing to his locker—which was in one of the tiniest, gabled corners of the second floor that his friends had deemed "perfect" for him due to the fact he was tiny as well—Nick reminded himself that Rachel only meant well. Usually, it just seemed like Rachel's non-stop talking was her pathetic attempt to get attention from anyone and everyone.

Nick stacked his unneeded books in his locker and grabbed the ones for last period. Everything was going to be fine. He could make it through the rest of the year. He didn't exactly have a choice—so there was no point in getting upset. Especially since he had no true plans for the future yet anyway.

As if on cue, his head cheerleader friend, Quinn, started ranting at Rachel.

"We all know what happened when you crushed on Mr. Shue" she groaned, leaning against the locker next to Nick's.

"Why can't you just go away?" Rachel scoffed. They didn't exactly get along too well.

"Nick, she's being a bitch again" Quinn whispered at him.

Nick sighed. He knew what was coming next.

Within seconds, he could hear the bickering between the two getting louder and louder. Quinn yelling at Rachel, who yelled back, and Finn—of course—coming in to break it all apart. Finn dragged Quinn away. The jealousy from Rachel was coming back again.

Nick slammed his locker and gripped his books tightly.

All he wanted was some peace.

Okay, and maybe some new friends.

* * *

Jeff Sterling took another sip of his coffee and contemplated his bangs and if they were appropriate for a teacher. They were unforgiving bangs. Bleach blonde and shiny, they were cut across his forehead as if Justin Bieber was trying to perfect his hairstyle by trying it on other people.

The bangs, along with his buttoned-too-high Oxford shirt and perfectly ironed brand-new jeans contributed to the students' opinions that he was a child in a teacher's clothes. Then again, he'd only been there for less than a day, and students tend to have outrageously unfair first judgements. If they ever saw Jeff back in the Marines, it was definitely a character flaw they'd have to work on adapting to.

"Everybody take your seats" Jeff found himself saying as the students walked in—the last period of the day, thankfully. First days anywhere were always pointless to him. He'd rather just dive in and start doing.

"These won't be your permanent seats, of course, you'll be seated alphabetically."

He could see the students physically deflate. Of course, children want to sit near their friends. To chat away and do absolutely nothing. Rarely would they want otherwise.

"Alright, attendance" he sighed, opening his computer and clicking to this period. "If I mispronounce your name, I apologise. If you have any nicknames, tell me. But I'm not calling you something idiotic."

A disinterested classroom let out a forced chuckle. Yeah, Jeff didn't think he was funny either. Other teachers seemed like tough I-take-shit-from-no-one people, so he figured he might as well be the opposite. Right?

After a row of attendance, and thankfully simple names, he couldn't help but be a bit more interested in a certain name.

"Nicholas Duval?"

"Oh, uh, here."

Jeff always hated improper diction. Stuttering, stammering, mispronouncing, it was amazing he wasn't an English teacher. He lifted his head up to look at the source of the voice, smiling politely.

"You're…actually in the right seat. And do you go by Nick?"

"Y-yeah, I do."

Jeff didn't let the small sneers of the rest of the class go unnoticed, nor the nervous tapping Nick did on the desk, but he just decided to drop it. He just nodded a bit and looked back at the computer to go through the rest of attendance.

"And you're all here. Super. Now, I'm Mr. Sterling, or Mr. S, whichever you prefer. But, let's get into the fun stuff…"

* * *

The noise of the rest of the class faded behind him. It seemed like forever—or only minutes—that Nick had been in the class, the looks from others getting more and more judgmental the longer he sat there.

He was falling fast, he knew, and for god's sake, it was a _teacher_, but it didn't even matter. For a few moments it was just like a falling dream, sensational and wonderful.

Then reality smacked him in the back of the head—or maybe it was a ball of paper—the laughter of the room slicing viciously into his thoughts. He was different, he knew, and so did the rest of the class.

The ball of paper rolled underneath his seat, and up to the front of the room. It stopped at the corner of the teacher's desk, and Nick swore he could hear whoever threw it gulp nervously.

Perfect. Mr. Sterling didn't notice the paper, and Nick's shoulders slumped in relief. Who knows what they wrote about him in there? Probably that he was a fag. It's usually what it was.

The bell ringing was a relief to everyone, all the students hopping out of their seats and rushing out of the classroom. Nick, however, took his time. Totally not to get a better look at the teacher, no, never. He straightened out his books, picking them up and starting out the door.

"Hey, Nichola-I mean, Nick."

Crap. Nick spun around and smiled politely at the teacher. Was he already in trouble? Did the teacher actually see and read the note?

"Do you get bullied often?"

Of course he'd notice.

"N-no, never" he said softly.

Nick was always a bad liar, and he could tell the teacher didn't believe him because of the narrowing of brown—mother of god—eyes.

"Well, okay. I'll see you tomorrow, Nick."

Nick nodded and hurried out of the door. Maybe he could make it to his locker unnoticed, without confrontation from Rachel or Quinn or a dumb jock that wanted to rip every single one of Nick's hairs out.

After a few minutes of sorting through his locker and deciding what he needed, he slipped out of the door closest to him and heading to his car. His car was his dad's old one, the one they worked on fixing together because it would "bring them together" or whatever. Nick didn't understand it either.

* * *

"You'd think people would get less crude the older they get."

Blaine was what Nick considered to be one of his closest friends. And maybe he lived a few towns over, and they've met once on a stroke of luck, but that didn't really matter. Nick was laying on his bed, laptop perched on the edge of his bed as he was doing his homework.

"Hate to break it to you, B, but they don't" he said with a scoff, the blurry figure on the screen laughing and shaking his head.

"So your first day was horrible, I'm guessing?"

"Not...all of it."

Blaine raised his "totally not triangular" eyebrows.

"What happened? Tell me."

"Nothing happened. It just didn't suck as much as normal."

"Nicholas Duval. Tell me."

Nick shook his head, smiling slightly.

"It's a guy."

If Nick could, he would smack Blaine for the squeal that came from his lips.

"Oh, shut the hell up" Nick groaned.

"Who is he?!"

"It's silly."

"Love isn't silly."

"You fell in love with Kurt over webcam."

"That's not silly! Tell me who he is."

"You're gonna laugh."

Blaine clicked his tongue, making an 'X' over his head. "Cross my heart that I won't."

Nick let out a short sigh. He knew Blaine didn't know who his teacher was, but how could he know he wouldn't tell Kurt?

"He's uh...kind of my biology teacher."

He could see Blaine muffling a laugh, and he narrowed his eyes at him through the screen.

"Kidding!"

"Oh thank god. I would've hurt you."

Nick forced a small laugh and pretended to check his phone. He knew Blaine would think it was silly. He knew he couldn't, wouldn't tell anyone anyway. It was silly, a pathetic crush that would pass over quickly.

"Dude, I have to go somewhere with my parents for a bit. Talk to you later?" Blaine sighed.

Nick nodded, waved slightly, ended the call, and flipped over on his bed with a groan. Maybe he could blame this on raging teen hormones. Or something like that.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So glad some of you liked the first chapter! I promise things will get more interesting as the story progresses.**

* * *

"It's absurd," Nick's mother said the next morning, as she poured four glasses of orange juice and passed them around the table.

"They're ruining their lives," his father agreed, shaking his head over the Lima newspaper.

Nick sat across from his brother, listening but not really, pushing the cardboard-flavoured eggs around the plate. It was how every breakfast went, a stupid discussion over how being gay is wrong and political statistics, his brother complaining about how hard his life was in college, and Nick sitting there silently and hoping someone would come in and smash his head against the table.

Everything was exactly the same as it was yesterday. And the day before. And the past week. As far as Nick could remember, really.

So why did everything feel so...different? Like he was being held here against his will?

"'Ruining their lives' is a bit of an exaggeration, don't you think?" Nick replied finally, aware that not long ago, or ever, he wouldn't dare speak back to his parents.

But after being stuck in the shadows of is family for so long, he wasn't going to let them crush everything he believed in.

"I mean, I kinda get it," he continued, flipping the egg over with his fork.

And the least his parents could do, as they listened and smeared cheap butter on their toasts, was consider the possibility that Nick himself was doing the exact thing they didn't like.

"They're born like that, they can't just stop who they're meant to be," he finished, pushing his plate away.

"They can try," his mother corrected.

Nick leaned back in his chair. Maybe it was lack of sleep, but he was feeling oddly rebellious. He couldn't be sure, though, since this has happened before, but the last time it ended in him being locked in his room for months.

"What would you do..." he ventured slowly, "if I was like that?"

"Disown you," his father answered quickly, folding the paper up and reaching for another soggy egg.

"Besides, we raised you better than that," his mother added.

Nick blinked dumbly, stung. He was raised better than that? How could his mother even _say_ that? He was raised horribly. _Horribly!_ When he was little, he was forced to spend most of his time in his room in fear of his father.

His stomach gave a sickening lurch.

"You wouldn't really disown him," his brother asked, a concerned frown creasing his forehead.

Nick's brother was in and out of the house–he went to a college a mere half hour away from the house, so he'd either spend the night at friends' houses, his girlfriend's, or with his family.

"No, not really," Nick's mother replied, "But we'd definitely consider it."

Nick would later realise that the next ten seconds were the most pivotal of his life to date. Somewhere within him, he knew that if he didn't speak now, he would never have another chance. He would wake up in ten years, married to some girl, with a law degree from Yale, spending ninety hours a week in a stuffy law firm just to make partner by thirty. Was that what he really wanted?

Of course not.

"I think we should talk about," Nick began, his stomach twisting into a knot and flipping nervously. "The possibility of me being gay."

Nick's mother frowned at him.

"What kind of example are you setting for your friends, even just talking like this?"

"I don't have friends, maybe one, and he definitely doesn't look up to me."

Just because his parents figured he was the most popular guy in school, he was obligated to change for his parents and his non-existent friends? No, thank you.

Nick's father stood up.

"You're not gay," he declared in a negotiable tone, picking up his plate.

"Yes I am. And I'd like to discuss it."

Nick regretted the words as soon as they left his lips. For the past two years, he'd tried to be the best he could for his parents. Hanging out with Rachel so it seemed like he had at least one friend, doing all of his homework at home, passing all of his tests, even taking all Honours classes this year. All to have that shatter by a confession that hey, he likes guys! It wasn't Nick's fault that he was like this, nor was it anyone else's. If God existed, he thought, God would've wanted him just the way he was.

But he wouldn't dare bring that up.

His brother's eyes were darting back and forth between Nick and his parents, a forkful of eggs forgotten halfway to his mouth. Nick deemed, by the slightly amused smile on his brother's lips, he was actually _enjoying _this.

"No," his father answered, turning his back.

And in the time it took his father to answer, he made the first, real decision independently. No matter what his parents said or did to convince him otherwise, he was not going to change for them.

Never.

* * *

"And no talking out of turn" Jeff added to the end of his second-day speech, twirling his pen as the class let out a collective grunt.

The day had gone by slow as ever, none of the classes caring enough to respond to any questions or comments he provided. Whereas in the hallways, they'd be screaming and laughing and practically bouncing.

He glanced around the classroom quickly, heading back behind his desk and taking attendance.

"Alrighty, well, now we get to do some work! Fun, right?"

He ignored the sigh from the class and grabbed a stack of papers.

"You, Claire, hand these out" he declared as he placed the stack on her desk with a thump.

While she was doing that, he settled behind his desk and took a better look at Nick. He hadn't spoken a word all period, slouched his chair and drawing absentmindedly on the edge of his binder. And frankly, Jeff was worried.

Jeff was fully aware he shouldn't care. Because he's a teacher, and Nick's a student, and their lives weren't his business. But he _knew _that look. The one where your entire family is pulling apart and you don't know how to stop it because it's your fault.

"Mr. S?"

Jeff looked at the source of the sound, raising an eyebrow.

"What are we supposed to like, do?"

As he went through the directions, he tried to make things a bit more interesting, lisping the ends of sentences and speaking higher than normal when asking a question. It worked well enough, because the class had somewhat amused smiles painted on them the entire time.

Probably fake, but who cared? Jeff was doing his job.

Before the bell rang, he told the class to sit down.

"Alright, guys, in all seriousness. If any of you ever need somewhere to go because you don't want to go home, or you have any questions, or you're just bored, feel free to come after class and hang, alrighty? Consider it a gift."

The whole class let out disinterested murmurs of agreement, and Jeff smiled slightly when he watched Nick perk up in his seat a bit.

Jeff walked behind his desk as the bell rang to avoid the sea of people rushing to get out of the room.

"Hey, Nick, can I talk to you for a sec?" Jeff asked.

* * *

Nick froze up slightly.

Oh god, did he already make Mr. S mad at him? What did he do?!

"You're not in trouble."

Nick let out a relieved breath, got up and grabbed his books. He stopped in front of the desk, trying to avoid Jeff's gaze by fiddling with his pen.

"Are you alright?"

Well. That's definitely not what Nick was expecting.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're getting bullied, for one."

Nick sighed shakily, setting his books down at the edge of the table. Mr. S was definitely making this whole 'calm and collected' thing harder than it should be.

"I know it's the second day and all. And I meant it. If you ever do need somewhere to go after school, I'm here. M'kay?" The blonde continued.

Nick nodded his head and hurried out of the classroom.

"I will be okay," Nick murmured to himself as he headed back to his locker. As he ducked past the ever-growing crowds of jocks, he made two observations about the people in his school.

One, people (girls, mostly) stared as Mr. S walked out of his room. More specifically, his ass.

And two, people sucked about talking about Nick without said boy noticing.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm a little late with this one, don't hate me. :D Angst ahead!**

* * *

The next few months were slow and uneventful. Fall moulded into winter, snow still on the ground from the first bad snowstorm signifying the change in season.

Nick passed all his classes with flying colours, easily getting honour roll for the two marking periods prior.

Not once did his parents congratulate him.

It was a half day due to statewide testing-the last day, thankfully- so Nick sat with his parents at the table silently. Normally the silence would be filled with gay-bashing or something to piss Nick off. But...nothing. As always.

"Alright, that's it," Nick sighed, slamming his fork down onto the plate and looking up at his parents.

"You haven't spoken a word to me ever since our conversation on the second day of school."

"That's not tr-" his mother started, but he ignored her and cut her off.

"Yes it is! I've been getting nothing but fantastic grades, to fulfil your _stupid_ dream of me going to Harvard or Yale for law."

"And we're proud of you," his father grumbled over this week's newspaper.

"No you're not! Before our conversation you would've patted me on the back and said congratulations. But now? You don't even dare come within ten yards of me! Scared you'll catch the gay?"

Nick didn't know why he was so frustrated with both of them. He loved not having his parents on his case, he'd prefer them not peeping a word at him or shitting a dime for him. So why was now different?

Nick assumed it was the fact that it was all because he was gay.

"_Nicholas!_" his mother gasped, tossing a hand to his chest.

"What? I'm telling the god damn truth, I'm gay, why can't you just accept me for who I am?!"

"Do not speak god's name in vain," his father chimed in as he stood up, setting his newspaper down.

"God isn't _real_, dad! And being gay and liking guys is not a sin, love is love."

His father's cheeks turned an angry purple-red. Nick had done it now. What would happen to him? Would he get the living crap beat out of him?

"Out."

"I-wait-what?" Nick sputtered in shock.

"I want you out of this house. I will not tolerate your disobedience and...choices."

"W-wait, dad, you-you can't just kick me out on...on the streets?"

Nick could feel the knot forming in his throat, his stomach clenching and making the little bits of burnt food churn and want to come back up.

_Please, please don't let him see me cry_ he thought quickly, watching his father furrow his brows at him.

"You have ten minutes to get your crap, and your car, and get the hell out."

* * *

Jeff hated staying late after class. He'd much rather spend his time at home, with his neighbour–_"He's not my boyfriend! He doesn't even like cock!"–_or not, grading papers and watching TV until he eventually got distracted and put the grading off until the next day. Of course he couldn't, though, because he had to stay after for meetings. And now he was just too lazy and tired to get off his chair and go home. So there he sat, clicking his pen absentmindedly, looking over last week's test and silently shaking his head at the people who got 40s.

Taking off his glasses with a yawn, he looked over at the clock. He'd been there for nearly two and a half hours, surely he could go home now, right?

Eh, too much effort, he deemed, rubbing his eyes and continuing to grade the papers.

* * *

"Where am I going to go?" Nick groaned once he got into his car, luggage stuffed in the back and hands gripping the wheel tight enough that his knuckles turned white.

_I. Will. Not. Cry._

He started on the way somewhere, anywhere.

It reminded him of those runaway movies, where the main character sets off on a trip to find themselves, leaving behind the nagging ex-girlfriend, the family that loves them so much, and getting the girlfriend of their dreams that flips their whole wide world upside-down and backwards.

Except with him, he wasn't really leaving behind anyone he cared for, he wasn't really leaving anywhere actually, he'd still be stuck in high school until he graduated, and he was positive nobody would want to be his boyfriend.

When did he start crying?

Nick brushed his cheek lightly, sniffling and squinting through his tears out on the road.

Where was he going, anyway? Blaine, he knew, couldn't take him in; they lived in a two room apartment with two parents and Blaine, and Nick was not comfortable with sharing a bed with him.

He absolutely refused to live with Rachel or Quinn. No way in hell was he going to be trapped with one of those two psychos. He'd be forced to listen about Finn and how perfect he is, and that wasn't his ideal living situation.

Who else did he have?

Everyone else he could think of hated him now. Camp friends, classmates, none of them would want him.

Maybe Nick could live in his car.

As he passed the school, he wiped under his eyes and sighed shakily.

Didn't Mr. Sterling say his room was always open?

No, no, he couldn't just _barge_ into the classroom and explain everything that ever happened in his life ever.

Could he?

It was silly. Mr. S couldn't care less about his personal problems. And he couldn't offer Nick living space or new parents or whatever.

Was Mr. S even still there?

He pulled into the lot and sat in his car for a little while. His eyes were red and puffy, nose running from crying. He most definitely couldn't see his biology teacher like this.

_'Go back, go back, go back!'_ chanted in his head like a mantra the entirety of the time it took to get to Mr. Sterling's room, and with a deep breath, he knocked on the wide open door.

"Mr. S?" he said quietly, on the verge of crying again. "Um, can I come in?"

* * *

Jeff was about to get up and finally go home. He was rummaging through his bag to find his keys, muffling a yawn. He couldn't help but jump a bit at the knock on the door; he definitely wasn't expecting anyone.

"Nick? Oh, of course, come in," he said, smiling and putting his bag back down on the floor. "Were you here the entire time?"

Nick shook his head and Jeff frowned slightly. Why would Nick come back to the school?

He didn't realise he said that aloud until Nick looked down at his feet, scuffing them against the ground.

"I-um, can I just...talk to you?"

Jeff nodded, standing up and walking to the other side of his desk.

"Here, come on, sit down," he said softly, turning two of the chairs toward each other and sitting in one.

"So...I guess I should start with my parents," Nick said shyly.

"It would be a good start."

As Nick started talking, Jeff could feel his heart sinking a little lower with each word. Nick was such an amazing kid, he got the highest grades in his class and in others, when Jeff would get him to talk he was always so polite, and so on and so forth.

"...an-and they've been ignoring me since then so I g-got mad...and I-I snapped, telling th-them that I'm not a sin and God is-isn't real so-so they kicked m-me out."

Jeff could feel his stomach rise in his throat at that one. How could his parents just kick him out? Sure, Jeff had gone through some trouble with coming out to his parents, but they never kicked him out.

"Oh, Nick..." he said quietly, placing a hand on his knee and forcing Nick to look up–and he didn't say anything about the slight blush dusting Nick's cheeks. "You don't have to go to college for them if you don't want to, you deserve so much better than them, I hope you realise that. They'll have to let you back in the house eventually, but you're free to stay here as long as you need. I've got nowhere to go anyway."

Nick sniffled and wiped his eyes, nodding slowly.

"Don't you have to go back to your wife or something?"

Jeff let out a small snort, shaking his head.

"Oh, no, I'm not married."

"Oh-I just...assumed..."

"It's alright, everyone does. I had a relationship while I was with the Marines, but he broke up with me through letter halfway through, so I've been single ever since."

Nick bit the inside of his cheek. So Mr. S was gay. No wonder why he never looked twice at any of the female teachers when they tried to flirt with them.

"When did you come back from the Marines?" he mumbled, tucking his knees to his chest and forcing Jeff to take back his hand.

"About a year ago. Then I got my teaching degree and came here."

Nick nodded and Jeff smiled softly.

"Thank you, Mr. S."

"Actually, just call me Jeff now. Mr. S seems highly inappropriate for now."

"Sorry, Jeff."

Jeff shook his head. He honestly didn't mind having people here, even if it was only for a few minutes.

"What do you want to do to pass the time? I've got episodes of CSI and NCIS, that's really about it."

"I love NCIS" Nick chuckled and smiled.

While Jeff put in the disc, Nick made himself comfortable (which proved near impossible, but he managed) and watched Jeff closely. This visit really only made his completely forgotten feelings from the beginning of the year towards him come back and swell, like it was trying to make Nick's life that much harder.

When he caught himself staring at his ass, he looked away, ducking his head until the blush creeping up his neck went away.

Nick had a bad feeling Jeff would notice his crush today.

* * *

After a while, and three NCIS episodes, Nick was sound asleep, head hidden in his arms on top of the desk.

Jeff didn't want to wake him, it was the calmest Nick had been ever since he walked into the room, why would he disturb him?

He got out of his chair with a yawn, rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses. He'd been here for a while, maybe it was good for both of them if they went home.

"Nick, hey, Nick," he said softly as he shook Nick's shoulder, the brunette blinking sleepily and yawning.

"What time is it?" he mumbled, stretching.

"Um...about seven."

"Do you think they'll let me back in?"

With a nod, Jeff crossed his arms over his chest.

"Do you want me to come with you? If they don't let you back in I'll definitely play the guilt card and make them."

Nick nodded, standing up and hugging Jeff.

Jeff froze for a second before hugging him back, smiling slightly.

"Thank you."

"It's never a problem. Thank you for coming to see me."

They walked out in a comfortable silence, a light snow falling and coating the cars and grass.

"I'm so tired of snow," Jeff grumbled and Nick laughed-Nick never laughed, as far as Jeff knew, so naturally, he was shocked.

"What? It's true," Jeff said with a chuckle as Nick shook his head and went to his car.

"You want to just follow me?"

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

It wasn't difficult getting back into his house with Mr. S-_Jeff_'s help. His mother was the one who had opened the door thankfully, so she didn't bat an eyelid when letting Nick back in.

His father was drunk, so he didn't really matter.

Before Nick walked inside, however, he stopped. "Mom, can you excuse me for a second?"

His mother scurried away, and Nick looked up at Jeff.

"I can't tell you how thankful I am."

"Don't worry about it, it's my job."

Nick's heart fluttered a bit. Jeff and his dumb modesty, Nick ached to reach up and kiss him.

Wait, where'd _that_ come from?

He blushed a bit but kept his gaze steady.

"But thank you, really. You didn't have to bring me back."

"I wanted to. So no worries. See you tomorrow?"

Nick let out a short laugh and nodded.

"I'll be there."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: The italic section is a flashback to Jeff's high school life. Warning for language. Pretty damn angsty.**

* * *

"You're lying," Rachel accused Nick five minutes until the end of their tenth period class. "I don't believe you were kicked out of your own house."

Nick rolled his eyes and glanced at the front of the room, where the boring PowerPoint was flickering on the board. Nobody really cared about the Great Wall of China anymore, and the teacher could obviously tell.

"I wasn't allowed in my house for about ten hours" he informed Rachel. "Yes, I was kicked out."

Rachel sighed dramatically, pinching the bridge of her nose. God, sometimes Nick hated Rachel. She was so naïve, just because her dads were perfect, didn't mean everyone else's parents were fan-fucking-tastic.

"You need to man the heck up and stand up to your parents, then."

Nick curled his hands into fists and dug his nails into his palms. He wanted to yell at Rachel so badly. Standing up to his parents was the whole damn reason he was kicked out!

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding once the bell rang, hopping out of his seat and rushing to get as far away from Rachel as he could.

Sometimes, he wondered why he was even talking to her.

Maybe it was because neither of them really had friends. Rachel was the queen of obnoxious, so nobody really liked her or wanted her around. And Nick was, well, Nick, and nobody wanted anything to do with him.

So they just kind of bonded though that.

Nick climbed up the stairs to his last period class quickly, thankful for biology and Mr. S to cheer him up.

Jeff. What if he accidentally called him Jeff during class? God, how embarrassing. Could Jeff tell Nick was crushing on him? If he could, his life was basically over.

"Hey, Nick!"

Nick's eyes widened slightly as he felt someone slamming him into the lockers, a pain shooting up his spine almost instantly as his books and papers scattered over the floor.

Gritting his teeth, Nick straightened up. "What the hell did I ever do to you?!"

The group laughed—Nick figured they would—and one of them (Jake? Nick didn't know, nor did he care) rolled his eyes.

"You're different. It's weird."

"Why does that change anything? You're so fucking judgemental, and it's getting annoying."

Jake scoffed, stepping closer to Nick and grinning. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Nick bit the inside of his cheek, silently hoping that they would all go fall off a cliff and die.

"What are you gonna do, huh? Hit me?"

The rest of the group laughed, Jake included, and Nick didn't notice his fist clenched at his side.

He was furious. They've been teasing and taunting him since grade seven, shoving him into lockers and laughing at every little thing he ever did. He was not going to let this one slip by him so easily.

"Fuck you," he hissed, gripping the front of Jake's shirt and punching him square in the jaw. The rest of the group's jaws dropped, all of them yelling at Nick and Finn grabbing Jake to take him to the nurse.

Nick stumbled back and swallowed thickly. What had he done?!

Next thing he knew, Mr. S was out of his classroom and screaming at Nick, The rest of the group were rushing to get out of there, and he was scrambling to grab his books.

"Nick. In. _Now_," he heard Mr. S shout, Nick hurrying into the classroom.

"After class."

Nick nodded stiffly and kept his head low the entire class. The low murmurs of the rest of the class were obviously about him and Jake, and Nick was still furious. He wanted to strangle practically everyone in the classroom for being idiots.

But of course, he couldn't.

* * *

Jeff let the class leave as soon as the bell rang, crossing his arms over his chest and signalling for Nick to come over.

And Nick...well, Nick was terrified.

Jeff could tell, it was pretty obvious. The other boy hadn't looked up from his desk the entire period, shoulders obviously shaking, not doing any work or taking notes.

Jeff couldn't help but feel bad.

"I have to say, you've got a mean right hook."

Jeff smiled slightly when Nick cracked a smile, going to sit at his desk.

"Tell me what happened."

"Jake or whatever shoved me into a locker, and I guess I just kind of...snapped."

"How long has it been going on?"

"Since grade seven."

Jeff's jaw dropped a little bit. "Six years? And you haven't done anything? Jeez, I see why you punched him."

Nick let out a soft chuckle and shrugged.

"Do you want to stay after? Because I'm going to have to write this up and I need to know the truth."

With a nod, Nick pulled up a chair next to Jeff's desk and started explaining.

It hurt, listening to all the things that had ever happened to Nick. Jeff glanced over at Nick every so often as he wrote it down, wanting to hug the boy and never let go in an attempt to make him feel better.

But he just kept writing, nodding in understanding every so often.

"It's a shame. You're so nice, I don't see why this has to happen to you," Jeff said softly once Nick was done explaining. "I was gay-bashed in high school, too, but it wasn't nearly as bad. I guess bad things happen to good people."

"What happened?"

"I'd much rather not talk about that..."

* * *

_Jeff walked through the hallways carefully, his hair and height making it virtually impossible to hide and duck into the sea of students._

_Which was part of the problem for him._

_An unknown foot sent him toppling forward into the crowd, books landing on the ground with a thud and papers flying everywhere. He kept his head down as he picked them up and everyone laughed._

_He was then shoved against the lockers, hard, which just dropped his books again and made a dull ache rise in his side._

_"Kill yourself, fag!"_

_It seemed like the entire hallway laughed at that. Jeff might've been one of the tallest kids there, but never did he feel so small._

_"Get the fuck up, pussy."_

_"Why do you still go here?"_

_"Just fucking die, nobody cares anyway!"_

_Jeff bit his lip and willed himself not to cry. He was so weak when it came to these types of things, people making fun of him and shoving him around. Really, he was just an all-around weak person._

_"Man the fuck up, you pussy," a passerby spat-quite literally-and Jeff wiped his face off and stood up shakily._

_He couldn't wait to graduate and get the hell out of here._

_As he turned to walk to class he was met with an iceberg slapping him in the face, the bright blue slushie that left the tips of his bangs blue for a good three days. He spat out the bits that got into his mouth and ducked into the nearest bathroom, cleaning himself off with a sigh._

_After a brutal confrontation in the bathroom with a guy who insisted Jeff was staring at his junk, Jeff stumbled out of the bathroom and hurried to get to class. Hopefully the teacher wouldn't notice how he was limping and his hair was blue._

_He just wanted out._

* * *

"Let's just say that I was called names. Nothing too bad. And then I went to the Marines."

Jeff finished, swallowed thickly, and put his pen away.

"Thank you for staying, though. I'll get back to you tomorrow with what you and Jake's punishments will be. I'll fight to get you as little as possible."

Nick mumbled a thank you and headed out of the classroom, Jeff shamelessly watching him leave the room before pinching the bridge of his nose.

He cared far more than he should about that kid.

He shouldn't care, he knew that, Nick was another student with average student problems.

But not really.

Jeff assumed that it could be because he didn't want Nick's story to be like his own. Nick shouldn't have to suffer, he such a caring, nice, fairly attractive kid.

The last point made Jeff groan out loud.

It was his student he was talking about there, not another thirty year old male that is content in life and working a good job.

Which made things even worse when Jeff deemed, later that night, that Nick was totally bangable.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he wondered aloud, rolling over in his bed and sighing.

'Nick is a student. Nick is a fairly attractive student. No, Nick is an extremely attractive student. Nick would look amazing sharing this bed with me...'

Jeff buried his head in his pillows and cursed under his breath.

Nick was a student.

Nick was just a student.

Jeff had never been more happy that he had a whole weekend to get his shit together.

* * *

"No way."

Blaine laughed through the phone, and Nick rolled his eyes.

"Yes, way."

"In the face?"

Nick rolled over his bed and looked at his nightstand, where the pictures of him and his family were flipped upside down-the result of a sleepless night where his father kept yelling at his mother about Nick.

"His nose was bleeding."

"I find that hard to believe."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Nick could hear Blaine shuffling around.

"You're not the type of person I would deem the fighting type."

"Neither are you, but you do fight club."

"But I'm different."

Nick grit his teeth. Who the hell did Blaine think he was?

"What?"

"Well, I'm a more angry person. You...you're as intimidating as a pink butterfly landing on a marshmallow."

"So, am I just not allowed to be angry?"

"No, no, it's just weird. Like, you don't have anger."

"Oh, no, totally just a happy fucking person all the time."

"That's not what I was say-"

Nick rolled his eyes and hung up his phone, throwing it onto the other side of the bed and sighing loudly.

It was one of those times where he wished he was friends with Jeff.

Jeff seemed like the person to tell him everything would be okay, and not to worry. And hold him and rub his back and murmur words of encouragement into his ear.

"He's also your fucking teacher," he mumbled to himself.

He really had to get over this silly crush. And fast.

But that proved impossible when he had to see him every day, and every day he was the same, caring, humble Mr. Sterling he knew and loved.

"Fucking dammit."

He was in love with his biology teacher.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day was a huge blur for Jeff. His mind basically consisted of a steady chant of _Nick, Nick, Nick_, and it felt as if his entire body thrummed to the beat of that song.

Which was exactly why he resorted to going to a club and drinking it away.

Maybe this Nick thing was his loneliness kicking in. It was possible. He'd been single for nearly three years, two of those whilst in the Marines. Maybe it was his way of coping?

Jeff had no idea.

He never believed his friends when they said drinking solves everything. He was always the designated driver, and never believed in drinking to forget and numb feelings.

But hell, it was the only thing he thought of to get that damn kid's name _out_ of his head.

Somehow Jeff found himself downing shots with a few strangers, the ceiling spinning over his head and laughing loudly. He didn't know how many he had–he lost count after four–but it was enough to make his vision blurred at the edges and the floor lurch underneath him.

"You wanna dance with me?" he heard someone say to him, and with a short nod and some stumbling, they managed to get to the dance floor.

And this guy danced _dirty._ Unfamiliar hands roamed over Jeff's back and hips bumped and ground into each other until they were both dripping sweat and sexually frustrated.

"Do you want to get out of here?"

This led into that, and Jeff had amazingly made into the guy's bed fully undressed without falling onto his face and embarrassing himself completely.

The only thing Jeff remembered next was the sound of a headboard banging into the wall and the disgustingly loud noises coming out of the other guy's mouth.

And Jeff could've sworn he yelled Nick's name as he came.

Thankfully, the other guy didn't mention anything.

Then they were cuddling on the bed, Jeff nearly asleep against him when the door slammed open an jolted him awake.

"The _fuck?!_"

Jeff hopped up and found his underwear, pulling them on.

"You have a _boyfriend?!_ If you have a boyfriend, why can't you just fuck _him_ senseless instead of picking up someone like me from the nearest bar?" Jeff yelled at the guy he'd slept with, turning to the other.

"Look, I'm really sorry," he said quickly before turning back to the guy on the bed. "People like you disgust me. I've had boyfriends exactly like you, who take advantage of someone in their drunken mind and take them home! You know what? It's _awful_. And I really hope he dumps your sorry ass."

Jeff found his clothes and rushed to put them on, swaying a little on his feet.

"Because nobody deserves to be treated like trash, especially the guy you fucking _love!_" he yelled as he brushed past the guy in the doorway, tears stinging the back of his eyes as he tried to figure out where the hell he'd ended up.

As soon as he managed to get home, he fell into his bed and checked the time.

Two hours until he had to go teach a fucking class.

He groaned loudly and shut his eyes, falling asleep quickly.

Tomorrow–later today?–would not be a good day for him.

* * *

Santana had always picked on Nick. The friendly kind, of course, even though she had always claimed they were not friends.

So when Santana came up to him before first period the next day, Nick let out a short sigh.

"Alright, spill."

"I beg your pardon?" Nick asked, looking through his locker.

"Don't play dumb on me, Bird Nose, you actually look somewhat happy and it's irking me. Spill."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Nick turned to walk away, Santana keeping up with him and furrowing her brows at him.

"Is it a guy?"

"No," Nick lied smoothly, rolling his eyes and gripping his books tighter.

"Did your parents finally accept you?"

"In your dreams, Lopez."

"Then what is it?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

Santana scoffed and slapped Nick's shoulder. "Come on, tell Auntie Snixx."

"Good_bye_, Santana," Nick sighed, walking into his classroom as the morning bell rang.

This might be a long day.

* * *

Somehow managing to get to school without throwing up his entire meals of the previous day, Jeff sat down in his chair and pushed his glasses up his nose (today was definitely _not_ the day for contacts).

His hair was somehow laying perfectly, but he felt like he was run over by a truck holding three elephants. Twice.

Amazingly he made it to last period without too much trouble, falling asleep during his lunch period and free period, and staying in his chair to teach.

But his stomach gave a threatening lurch as students started walking into this period.

Nick was _here_.

Nick was in this class and Jeff knew he couldn't look him straight in the eyes without the urge to go over and kiss him.

"Stop it," he mumbled to himself, looking through his laptop for work to give the class.

"Alright, I'm not feeling too great, and I really don't want to yell," he began, looking over the class and hand gripping the computer mouse tighter as he caught Nick's gaze for a second. "So you're getting bookwork and I don't want to hear any complaints."

* * *

Nick didn't even know glasses were a _thing_ for him until that day.

And damn, Je–Mr. Sterling worked them well.

He shifted awkwardly in his seat and ducked his head to hide the blush creeping up his neck. Briefly, he wondered what had Mr. S like this.

_It's none of your business_, he told himself silently, getting up to get a textbook quickly.

Maybe he just had a virus.

Maybe he was just tired.

He glanced over at the teacher, who was simultaneously grading papers and putting them into his computer, and sighed dreamily.

Even not feeling well he managed to look gorgeous (Nick mentally slapped himself for that thought), with those dumb bangs and that stupid perfect jawline and those eyes that fucking sparkled even when there was barely any light seeping into the room.

Oh, Nick had it, and he had it _bad_.

And there was nothing he could do about falling until he smacked headfirst into the pavement.

* * *

"Do you really think he'll fall in love?" Jeff's neighbour, Wes, wondered aloud.

His boyfriend, David, looked up from a stack of papers from his work. "I don't know...maybe...if he lets himself."

Wes was lying on their couch with his head on David's lap, clearly worried. Jeff had been a close friend ever since he'd moved in, now all he wanted to do was look out for him.

Or go back in time, he thought, looking at the television and sighing softly. Wes wished Jeff would be happy-truly happy. If he was, everything would be better.

Well, not entirely better, but pretty damn close. If Jeff did happen to find a guy that made him happy, it would most likely end up the same way. As David deemed before, he had a 'thing for pretentious assholes'. And Wes had to agree there.

"Jeff deserves it," David added, brushing Wes's hair out of his face. "He deserves someone better than Tyler."

Tyler, the cheating ex-boyfriend. Wes never wanted to admit that he was the one who walked in on Tyler with someone else in Jeff's bed, and the fact that his first thought was _'Doesn't Tyler have somewhere else to do that?'_.

Maybe Wes had ruined Jeff's relationship. So what? He'd known since day one that that boy was just going to hurt Jeff. And Wes was the first one to comfort Jeff once he found out.

That's what friends are for.

...right?

"Hate to break up you two shitty lovebirds," Jeff announced as he walked into their apartment, slamming the door behind him. "But we need to talk."

"You look like shit," David said nonchalantly, Wes smacking his shoulder and sitting up, patting the couch next to him.

"I _feel_ like shit."

"What happened?" Wes asked as Jeff sat down and slumped against him.

"I'm a fucking _mess_."

"Is it your classes?"

"I could care less about them. But...it's a guy."

"In one of your classes?"

The silence coming from Jeff spoke volumes.

"Is he cute?"

Jeff sighed and took off his glasses, tossing them on the coffee table and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Adorable. And I know that it's not right to crush on a kid that's not even legal, and I could get fired, and blah blah blah. But I can't get the little shit out of my head, Wes, and it hurts."

Wes frowned slightly and rubbed Jeff's back soothingly.

He glanced over at David, raising his eyebrows and earning a shrug in reply.

"Maybe you should go out."

"Tried it. Ended up screaming at a guy and walking three miles home."

"You have to forget about him, Jeff. I understand that you have a little schoolboy crush, but your _job_ is at stake if you do anything about it. Maybe try to meet other people."

Jeff sighed again and sat up, grabbing his glasses and hitching his bag over his shoulder.

"Thanks, Wes. And David, but not really," he mumbled, smiling slightly and walking out.

That's what he had to do.

Jeff was going to forget he ever met Nicholas Duval.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'M LATE I KNOW I AM SORRY I AM JUST A LAZY**

* * *

Nick didn't feel good. He felt very, very bad. One of two things was about to happen. Either he was going to throw up, or he was going to pass out. The right thing to do would be to keel over, put his head between his knees, and aim past his shoes should anything find its way from his stomach through his mouth.

But seeing as he was learning about genetic modification in biology class, and he didn't want to put himself through the humility of making Mr. Sterling call an ambulance, he held his stomach and hoped nothing would happen. Because by the time Mr. Sterling told the class to start their homework, he'd neither lost consciousness or thrown up the little bits of burnt toast he ate as he was being screamed at that morning.

"Have the packet done for tomorrow, and don't tell me you didn't know there was a back, because I'm telling you that now," Mr. Sterling told the class and Nick flipped open the packet and sighed softly.

Because not only did he forget everything in this packet in the past week, his phone would not stop vibrating in his bag. Which, of course, meant it was his mother.

_Your grades are dropping in all of your classes! _

_Why can't you be like your brother and get straight A pluses?_

_Your father is furious with you!_

Nick locked his phone and buried his head in his arms. He was just plain tired of them. His stomach twisted a bit when he felt eyes on him–_you can feel someone staring?_–because he knew the only person who really paid attention to him in this class was Jeff. Mr. Sterling. Whatever he was supposed to call him.

He didn't want Mr. Sterling to ask him what happened. Part of him did, wanted to get it out and just break right in front of the other man.

But Nick couldn't do that.

That would just add to the embarrassment.

The bell ringing was a relief to everyone, the packets shoved into their bags and long forgotten. Nick would probably be the only one to actually do it.

"Are you alright, Nick?"

_Shit._

Nick nodded and picked up his books.

"Fabulous, and yourself?"

Nick winced a little at how rude that sounded. Crush or not, Mr. Sterling/Jeff was his teacher, and he had to show respect. Maybe.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking. Are you sure you're okay?"

Stupid Jeff and his stupid compassion and his stupid hair that kept falling into his face. Nick glanced around and let out a short sigh.

"Were you ever compared to a sibling or a cousin or something?"

"Not really, I was the oldest, so I was the role model."

Nick watched as Jeff stood up and walked around the desk to stand next to him.

He never really noticed how much taller the blonde was than himself.

"My brother's a sophomore in college. Straight As, perfect girlfriend, great school, becoming a doctor. And what am I? A senior that has absolutely no plans of my own after graduation, gay as the Fourth of July, I don't even know what I want to work as. Who do I get compared to? Him."

"Not everyone can be perfect, Nick–"

"I know that!" Nick sighed exasperatedly and set his books on the teacher's desk. "I get that I'm the son they never wanted, and I get that I can't be exactly like my brother. But they don't stop comparing me to him! No matter how much I do, or what I say, they'll keep saying I'm not good enough."

And that sent Nick off a tangent, Jeff nodding his head in agreement every time he had the chance. Which Nick appreciated silently.

"...and we both know I can't get an A+ in math even if I tried!"

"Nick, hey, Nick, rela–"

"But they keep saying I'll need to do amazing to get into Harvard, and I've told them I don't even want to go, but that means shit to them! Even if I manage to get my grades up to As, it wouldn't even-mmpf!"

* * *

_Kiss him. _Kiss_ him. _

Jeff knew it would be rude to shut Nick up by kissing him. It's happened in movies, and usually the one performing gets slapped.

Come to think if it, Jeff wouldn't mind getting slapped by Nick. If it meant getting to kiss him, wasn't it worth it?

Jeff would've slapped _himself_ just for thinking that.

Taking a deep breath, he cupped Nick's cheeks and knelt down to kiss him softly, eyes falling shut.

All or nothing, right?

He could feel Nick tense up and relax under his touch, the slow slide of lips almost intoxicating. It was insane how perfectly they fit together.

This is so wrong. He's your student.

Jeff's eyes snapped open as he dropped his hands. He was kissing his student.

"Oh my–I'm so, so, sorry," Jeff mumbled as he stepped away, cursing himself under his breath. He might as well just set himself on fire right then and there. How could he let his guard slip and kiss him?

He wished the floor would open up and swallow him whole.

He could get fired for doing that.

"Jeff, hey, it's perfectly fine," Nick said softly and Jeff rubbed the back of his neck.

At least he wasn't getting slapped.

"I could get you in a lot of trouble. And I could get fired."

"I think it's worth it."

Jeff looked up and raised his eyebrows in shock. Nick was actually okay with kissing a thirty year old man that just so happened to be his teacher?

That was a first.

A _big_ first.

Leaning against the counter, he sighed softly.

"Alright. Let me get a few things straight," Nick began, hopping on the desk next to Jeff. "You kissed me, we both liked it. Now what?"

"As much as I'd love to date you, I think the difference would be a little weird."

Jeff laughed softly when Nick shrugged his shoulders and started kicking his feet. That really shouldn't have been as adorable as it was.

"I don't really mind. How old are you?"

"Thirty-four. Usually I just tell myself thirty so I feel a bit better about myself. And you're, what, seventeen? Holy crap I feel old."

"It's only an seventeen year difference."

"Only? I feel ancient. And creepy."

Jeff stood between Nick's legs and drummed his fingers on his thighs absentmindedly.

"It can't be that creepy."

"Imagine your dad being forty and your mom being twenty-two. That's a little creepy."

Nick hummed and looked down at Jeff, blushing slightly.

"Can we forget the age difference? I like you, I'm assuming you like me, shouldn't that be all that matters?"

The blonde smiled softly and nodded, reaching up to kiss Nick again.

It was so wrong, in retrospect. But it felt so right.

Isn't that all that mattered?

"So I can proudly call you my boyfriend and not seem completely insane."

Nick laughed and swatted Jeff's shoulder playfully.

Jeff realised Nick had never been this happy since they met.

And that made him a bit proud.

"Yes, you can. But in secret. We can't afford anyone finding out."

Jeff grinned and looked up at Nick, who was also smiling, and he was pretty sure he fell a little bit more at that.

"Of course. No one will know but you."

* * *

Nick decided that now was a really bad time to have a horribly dirty mind. But really, he was a kid, and his boyfriend(!)'s face was about ten inches from his crotch. Who could blame him?

Nick bit his lip and tilted Jeff's chin up with his finger.

"I can kiss you whenever, right?"

"As long as no one's around," Jeff chuckled and stood up straighter for them to kiss.

Nick expected it to be fireworks, when you kissed _'the one'_. Bursts of light behind his eyelids, those cheesy montages and music playing in the background.

Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration.

But in reality, it was more of a pleasant warmth spreading through his body, making his stomach flutter and his heart skip. And it was nice.

Nick opened an eye to glance out the door, sighing in relief and shutting his eyes again.

He could tell he was going to be very paranoid about this.

Who could blame him, though?

Keeping secrets is tough. Especially with the risks the two of them had. Maybe they could...not do anything too revealing?

The kiss wasn't sexual in the least, a long chain of short kisses, each one a little bit longer than the last, trying to memorise every inch of each other's lips.

When they pulled apart, Nick felt dizzy.

"Are we uh, gonna try this?" Jeff asked almost shyly, making Nick's heart pound harder against his ribcage.

"Yeah," Nick breathed. "We are."


End file.
